General quotes

Personal avowals

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think. Socrates (469-399 BC) Ancient Greek pre-Christian philosopher, source unknown

The crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. Article by Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-born US American theoretical physicist, developer of the theory of general relativity, Nobel laureate in physics, 1921, Why Socialism?, presented by the US American independent socialist magazine Monthly Review No. 1, May 1949, reprinted 1. May 2009

The best way to fight terrorism is not through guns. It's through pens, books, teachers and schools.I am proud to be a girl. We girls can change the world!Malala Yousafzai (*1997) Pakistani human rights and education activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 2014, in a conversation with the World Bank, 11. October 2013

My role as an educator is not to make you feel safe. It is to make you feel safe in your discomfort. Irshad Manji (*1968) Canadian educator, New York University, advocate of a "reformist" interpretation of Islam, author, Twitter comment, 15. February 2016

Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

Will Durant (1885-1981) US American historian, philosopher, writer (on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation), cited in: Book review of "The Age of Voltaire" by Will and Ariel Durant, Books: The Great Gadfly, presented by the US American weekly news magazine TIME, 8. October 1965

I was trained to identify the resistors. The resistors to the sex-ed, drug-ed, alcohol-ed, suicide-ed, death-ed, those good, smart Americans who realize that anything that education hanging off the end of it is probably not what they're looking for. I was trained to identify those good people, and to go up against them, and actually to go and try to get them to join us through the group process system. Make them feel important, get them on a committee […] and that just blew my mind. Charlotte Iserbyt, US American whistleblower, senior policy advisor of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education und president ⚡Ronald Reagan (1981-1984), freelance writer, cited in: article Whistleblower Explains How Education System Targets 'Resistors', presented by the US American online magazine Waking Times, Isaac Davis, 20. March 2017

Recommendation

If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.

Chinese proverb

Warning

Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: 'You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself – educating your own judgements. Those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society. Doris Lessing (1919-2013) British biographer, playwright, librettist, poet, novelist, novel The Golden Notebook, Michael Joseph, 1962, 1971, HarperPerennial, paperback reissue edition 18. June 2007

Appeal

We have to learn to communicate because nothing else will protect us from terrorism in this world. Marshall Rosenberg, US American psychologist, therapist, promoter of "Nonviolent Communication", source unknown

Conclusions

Everything you've learned in school as "obvious" becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.Generalized principles coined by Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) US American engineer, systems theorist, architect, constructor, designer, inventor, futurist, philosopher, author, cited in: John A. Keel, Our Haunted Planet, S. 11, Galde Press, 2002

The most erroneous assumption is to the effect that the aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence, and so make them fit to discharge the duties of citizenship in an enlightened and independent manner. Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States, whatever the pretensions of politicians, pedagogues and other such mountebanks, and that is its aim everywhere else. Article Title unknown by H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) US American critic of American life and culture, satirist, journalist, magazine editor, essayist, author, presented by the US American magazine The American Mercury, published 1924-1981, April 1924

Whitewashed gun meme circulating social media: "With guns, you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism."

Drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact. Malala Yousafzai (*1997) Pakistani human rights and education activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 2014, meeting with the First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama, White House, Washington, D.C., 11. October 2013, cited in: Malala Yousafzai meets with the Obamas in the Oval Office, presented by the American daily newspaper The Washington Post, Philip Rucker, 11. October 2013

Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire. William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) Irish poet, playwright, Nobel laureate in literature, 1923

For the mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth.Plutarch [Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus] (45/46-120/125 AD) Greek-Roman historian, priest at the temple of Apollon in Delphi, Middle Platonist, biographer, essayist, Moralia by Plutarch, volume 1, ["De auditu", translated "On Listening to Lectures"], Loeb Classical Library, webpage maintained by Bill Thayer, 1927

Educating all of our children must be one of our most urgent priorities. We all know that education, more than anything else, improves our chances of building better lives. Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) leading South African anti-apartheid activist, prisoner for 27 years during apartheid, first black president of South Africa (1994-1999), message for the 'Schools for Africa' campaign, Johannesburg, South Africa, 15. May 2008

Two white swans forming a Valentine's heart

Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farmworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another. Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) leading South African anti-apartheid activist, prisoner for 27 years during apartheid, first black president of South Africa (1994-1999), Long Walk to Freedom. The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Little, Brown and Company, London, 1994, Back Bay Books, 2. June 2008

Whatever an education is,
⚑ it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist;
⚑ it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges;
⚑ it should allow you to find values which will be your road map through life;
⚑ it should make you spiritually rich, a person who loves whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whomever you are with;
⚑ it should teach you what is important: how to live and how to die.

If each person has natural gifts and innate talents, then the true nature of education must involve the awakening, inviting, and blessing of the inner genius and unique life spirit of each young person. Michael MeadeMosaicvoices.org, US American storyteller, scholar of mythology, psychology, anthropology, ritualist, spokesman in the Men's Movement, author, The Genius Myth, Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, April 2016

[T]o the best of my knowledge, no war was ever started by women. The education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all. Aung San Suu Kyi (*1945) Burmese opposition politician (2012-2016), house arrested for 15 of 21 years (1989-2010) for her opposition to the military junta's seizure, leader of Myanmar's democracy movement, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 1991, open­ing keynote via a videotape, NGO Forum on Women at the Fourth UN World Conference on Women Bei­jing, China, 1995; cited in: Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D.jeanbolen.com, US American Jungian analyst, proactive women researcher and supporter, crone, spiritual teacher, author, The Millionth Circle. How to Change Ourselves and The World, "Preface", Conari Press, 1st edition 1. September 1999

Extremists are afraid of books and pens. I want education for the sons and the daughters of all the extremists especially the Taliban. […] The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. […] Education is the only solution. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Malala Yousafzai (*1997) Pakistani human rights and education activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 2014, address at United Nations Youth Assembly, UN headquarters, New York, 12. July 2013, cited in: One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world., presented by the major Pakistani daily English-language newspaper The Express Tribune, 12. July 2013

[Question:] How Exactly Do Montessori Children Learn So Much?"Traditional schooling [...] is based mostly on two models: the Austrian (Prussian) military, and the American factory/assembly line, both of which were designed to create certain traits in the populace, including punctuality and obedience. These models are also designed to ensure a basic level of what was considered essential knowledge. The driving forces of the resulting system is therefore the curriculum and its delivery, and strict externally imposed structure. The methods used are behavioural (i.e., based on the work of behaviouralists like ⚡Skinner and Pavlov).Montessori, on the other hand, is a system built with the child in mind, and with Dr. Montessori's assertion that "all politicians can do is keep us out of war, peace is the work of educators". It is a return to Socratic ideals of education. Montessori, like other constructivist theorists (Itard and Seguin in particular were very influential to her work) understand that there is an element of self-construction in all things natural, including humans. She understood, long before we had the technology to prove it, that nature and nurture influence each other, and it is through both that the human is created, inside and out. The system she created, therefore, is driven by the idea that providing an environment that feeds moral and psychological development will result in a populace with stronger morals and healthier psyches, which in turn allows the populace to both learn more easily and to better use our knowledge to impact the world in positive ways. Article Go On. Ask Me. How Exactly Do Montessori Children Learn So Much?, presented by the Montessori Jewish Day School, Andrea Lulka, 17. June 2013

It is against this danger that schoolmasters have to fight, for if education is beaten by training, civilization dies. The lesson of history is that civilization is a rarity, attained with difficulty and easily lost. C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) British scholar, novelist, cited in: Gregory Dunn, C.S. Lewis on Liberal Arts Education, April 1999

School is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is. Ivan Illich (1926-2002) Austrian US American theologian, Roman Catholic priest, philosopher, social critic of the Western culture, author, critical discourse on education Deschooling Society, Harper & Row, New York, 1971

Anyone who tells you that the sole purpose of education is the acquisition of negotiable skills is attempting to reduce you to a productive employee at work, a gullible consumer in the market, and a docile subject of the state. What’s at stake, when we ask what college is for, is nothing less than our ability to remain fully human. William Deresiewicz, Ph.D. (*1964) former US American professor of English, Yale University, social and literary critic, essayist, author, Excellent Sheep. The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life, chapter 5 "What is College For?", S. 79, Free Press, 19. August 2014

The book is [ Excellent Sheep ] not about elite higher eduction only, it's not about higher education only, and it's not about America only. This is what education has become and is becoming throughout the world at every level. [...] A lot of people are pissed off about it. And a lot of people want to do something about it. [...] I hope that a generation from now we can look back and say, 'We saw that we had taken a wrong turn [as in rankist meritocraZy, Reaganesque neoliberalist narcissicst logic] and we made a course correction.' Video interview with William Deresiewicz, Ph.D. (*1964) former US American professor of English, Yale University, social and literary critic, essayist, author, William Deresiewicz in Conversation with Morris Dickstein, sponsored by The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), host Morris Dickstein, US American cultural historian, literary critic, Elebash Recital Hall, 4. November 2014, YouTube film, minute 25:39, 1:29:25 duration, posted 12. December 2014

There is no top. However high you climb, there is always somebody above you.

The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) US American critic of American life and culture, satirist, journalist, magazine editor, essayist, author, source unknown

If they have the capacity to think freely and understand these types of things, they're going to be kept out by a very complicated filtering system – which actually starts in kindergarten, I think. In fact, the whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don't know how to be submissive, and so on – because they're dysfunctional to the institutions. Noam Chomsky (*1928) US American professor emeritus of linguistics, philosopher, cognitive scientist, social activist, author, John Schoeffel, editor, R. Mitchell, editor, Understanding Power. The Indispensible Chomsky, S. 111, The New Press, 9th edition 1. February 2002

Ordinary people are obsessed with entertainment. The best are obsessed with education. Robin S. Sharma (*1964) Canadian-Mauritian lawyer, leadership expert, writer, Twitter comment, 31. August 2014

Inasmuch as the mind cannot innately discern truth from falsehood, it's only defense is reliance on reason and the intellect. Thus, education is of benefit on many levels. To the unevolved ego, however, the capacity to think is subverted from reason to rationalization in order to justify emotionalised positions. The distortions of truth then tend to fall into stratified levels concordant with the concomitant levels of society. ⚡Dr. David R. Hawkins, Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 255, 2005

US American founder of functional psychology, 'progressive' pseudo educational and social reformer, philosopher, early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism

"Teaching school children to read was a "perversion" and high literacy rate bred 'the sustaining force behind individualism."Dewey introduced the conformist education model adverse to critical thinking. Serving cultural dumbing down via standardized tests in the US school system.

US American professor of educational psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, developer of the theory of connectionism, member of the board of the Psychological Corporation, president of the American Psychological Association (APA)

"[E]very advance in the sciences of human nature will contribute to our success in controlling human nature and changing it to the advantage of the common wheel."1912

John Taylor Gattojohntaylorgatto.com (*1935) US American public school teacher in New York City, recipient of the New York State Teacher of the Year award, authorCharlotte Iserbyt, US American whistleblower, senior policy advisor of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education and president Ronald Reagan (1981-1984), freelance writer

Ubuntu – Shared humanity

The term Ubuntu stems from Bantu, Zulu and Xhosa cultures. It expresses the African philosophy of humaneness. Translated it means "I am what I am because of who we all are."

A Western anthropologist proposed a game to the children in the African Xhosa tribe. He put a basket full of fruit and goodies near a tree and told the young folks that whoever got there first would win the basket. As soon as he finished commanding: "Ready, steady, go!," the children all took each others' hands and ran together. Arrived at the tree they sat down together enjoying their treats.
When the dumbfounded scientist asked them why they had run like they did as one could have had all the sweets for himself a little girl replied:

UBUNTU. How can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?

A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. Desmond Tutu (*1931) South African anti-apartheid activist, first black archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 1984, No Future Without Forgiveness, 1999

Africans have a thing called "ubuntu". It is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being willing to go the extra mile for the sake of another. We believe that a person is a person through other persons, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms. Therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging. Desmond Tutu (*1931) South African anti-apartheid activist, first black archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 1984

According to Peter de Jager, the Zulu greeting Sawubona means 'I see you' and the response, 'Ngikhona' means 'I am here'. As always when translating from one language to another, crucial subtleties are lost. Inherent in the Zulu greeting and our grateful response, is the sense that until you saw me, I didn't exist. By recognizing me, you brought me into existence. A Zulu folk saying clarifies this, "Umuntu ngumuntu nagabantu", meaning, "A person is a person because of other people." Bridget Edwards, blog writer, Namaste and Sawubona, a Zulu greeting, 28. April 2014

An Eipo boy from Western New Guinea eats a large piece of carob candy with relish. His younger sister also wants a piece of it. She whines while he stubbornly refuses to share a piece with her. She begins to cry, her brother screams.Alarmed by the noise, the mother hurries along. Recognizing the sibling dynamics as well as the learning opportunity, she silently takes the piece of chocolate from the boy's hand and mouth and breaks it in two halves.

Carob confections

Question: What will a Western adult caregiver – other than the mother from the South Sea – do next?

Answer: In the West, the higher ranking person resolves the dilemma by deciding for the child instead of letting it decide for itself. Parents with a traditional mindset are each slipping the broken chocolate pieces to their two children.

The Eipo mother returns the two pieces of chocolate to her son without instructing him any further. The boy now has two pieces in one hand each and is faced with the choice of what to do with both pieces of candy in both hands. One hand is feeding him, the other can give.After the motherly intervention and in view of the new situation, the boy decides to voluntarily give his sister a piece of chocolate. She takes it and eats it. Her tears dry quickly.

When a child learns to share dough, toys or food by himself (as a result of an educational intervention), the experience of sharing has emerged from inside. Imposed or substitute sharing comes from outside and can hardly activate inherent natural impulses.

Pygmalion effect – Average people may perform at genius level.

At the beginning of the school year, the principal called three teachers into his office to inform them:

As a result of your teaching excellence over the last three or four years, we have come to the conclusion that you are the best teachers in this school. And as a special reward to you, we have identified three classes each with 30 of the brightest students in this school – the students with the highest IQs. And we're going to assign them to you to teach for the entire year. We don't want to be accused of discrimination, so it's very important that you do not tell these children in any way that you know that they've been selected for a screened class. And second of all, we're not going to tell their parents, because we don't want to cause any difficulties there. I expect you to teach exactly the same way you normally do and use exactly the same curriculum, and I expect you to get very good results with these students.

At the end of the school year, these students led not only the school, but the entire school district in academic accomplishment.

Calling the three teachers into his office, the principal said:

Well, you've had a very good year.Yes we have [...] it was so easy, replied the teachers. These children were so easy to teach. They were so eager to learn; it was such a pleasure to teach them.

Well, maybe I'd better tell you the truth, said the school principal.

This has been an experiment, and those 90 children were chosen out of the school population at random. When I assigned them to your class at the beginning of the year, I had no idea what their IQs were at all. That's incredible! exclaimed the teachers. But how could it be that they scored so high? They did so well. They got such good grades. Ah hah! Yes! It must be because we are such excellent teachers.

To which the principal said,

And I think I should also tell you the other side of the experiment. At the beginning of the school year, we put all the teachers' names in a hat, and yours were the first three names that were drawn.

1. Critical thinking and problem solving2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence3. Agility and adaptability4. Initiative and entrepreneurship5. Effective oral and written communication6. Assessing and analyzing information7. Curiosity and imagination

Video interview with William Deresiewicz, Ph.D. (*1964) former US American professor of English, Yale University, social and literary critic, essayist, author, William Deresiewicz in Conversation with Morris Dickstein, sponsored by The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), host Morris Dickstein, US American cultural historian, literary critic, Elebash Recital Hall, 4. November 2014, YouTube film, 1:29:25 duration, posted 12. December 2014

Cultural dumbing down via standardized tests in the US school system; conformist education model adverse to critical thinking introduced by ⚡John Dewey (1859-1952) US American founder of functional psychology, 'progressive' pseudo educational and social reformer, philosopher, early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism, student of Wilhelm Wundt, M.D. [Father of experimental psychology] (1832-1920) German physician, physiologist, professor of mechanistic psychology, founding figure of modern psychology, philosopher